The key verse for our devotional today is a description of the first son of Abraham, a son born to Abraham and his wife’s handmaid, Hagar. This was a “birth of convenience”, so that there would be a “son” to carry on the family line into the next generation and those to come.

Abraham and Sara were not willing to wait on the Lord to fulfill His promise of a “son” born of a Biblical marriage, Genesis 2:24. The result was that the new male child would be one that would be a “wild man” as the Lord indicates to his Mother, verse 12.

The birth of “Ishmael” would be the beginning of a nation that would be a “people” that would also “raise their hands against others”. By the way, the Bible tells us that Ishmael would “father one nation”, Genesis 17:20. Ishmael did not “father” the “Arab world”, as many have been taught down through history.

In Genesis 10 we see that many of the Arab-world nations were in existence over 300 years before Ishmael was even born. There are several such nations listed as “sons” of Ham, Noah’s son. In Genesis 10:6 it speaks of “Cush”, which is modern-day Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

“Mizraim” is today Egypt and “Phut” is the Arab nation of Libya. These few nations that I’ve listed are all Arab nations today and were in existence almost 300 years before Abraham ever came on the scene, much less Ishmael. Neither Abraham, nor Ishmael were the “father of the Arab world”.

Genesis 25:18 indicates that Ishmael went to “Arabia” to live with his family of twelve sons that would be born to him. The only nation that Ishmael fathered was modern-day Saudi Arabia. If anything, Ishmael “fathered” the Islamic world. Mohammad, the "prophet" of Islam, said that he was “a direct descendant of Ishmael.”

It does each of us good to study the Word of God and not necessarily listen to tradition about the origins of the nations of the world. Nations, or at least many of them came into existence almost 4,500 years ago after the Flood. Notice Genesis 10:5, 20, 31 and 32 in their context.

What we see in our world today is setting the stage for the scenario found in Bible prophecy for the last days to be fulfilled. Remember, before these prophecies are fulfilled Jesus will shout for us to join Him in the heavens. The Rapture could happen today.

PRAYER THOT: Help me Lord to remember that the time of your return is quickly approaching and each passing day, with all that it displays as evidence of what will proceed Your return, should make me keep looking up, expecting You to appear.